No.  i63. 

New  Nether- 
land  in  1640. 

By  DAVID  PETERSON  DE  VRIES. 


From  his  "  Short  Historical  and  Journal  Xotes." 

Saw  land  again  from  on  board  [Dec.  26,  1638],  and  at  noon 
came  in  sight  of  the  highlands  of  Sandy  Hook,  and  at  four  o'clock 
reached  the  point,  where  the  pilots  wanted  to  cast  anchor  and 
fire  a  gun,  in  order  that  some  one  might  come  off  and  pilot  the 
ship  in.  I  told  him  that  his  cannon  were  not  heavy  enough 
for  them  to  hear  the  report  at  the  fort,  which  was  five  miles  dis- 
tant. Then  the  skipper  said  he  would  return  to  the  West  Indies, 
as  he  saw  the  island  covered  with  snow,  and  wait  there  till  sum- 
mer. I  answered  him  that,  if  we  could  not  get  in  here,  I  would 
take  him  to  the  South  River.  But  I  could  not  make  him  under- 
stand that  there  was  any  South  River,  inasmuch  as  he  had  old 
false  charts  by  which  he  wanted  to  sail.  As  there  were  some 
passengers  who  had  dwelt  several  years  in  Xew  Xetherland, 
they  urged  him  to  ask  me  to  take  him  in,  as  I  had  been  there 
with  my  own  ship  at  night,  as  before  related.  The  skipper  then 
came  to  me,  and  asked  me  if  I  would  sail  the  ship  in,  as  I  was 
well  acquainted  here.  I  answered  him  that  I  would  do  so  for 
the  sake  of  the  passengers  who  were  on  board;  and  that  he, 
at  another  time,  if  he  took  freight,  should  employ  pilots  who 
were  acquainted  with  the  places.  So  I  brought  the  ship  that 
same  evening  before  Staten  Island,  which  belonged  to  me,  where 
I  intended  to  settle  my  people,  and  at  dark  let  our  anchor  fall 
in  eight  fathoms. 

The  27th,  in  the  morning,  the  weather  became  very  foggy, 
so  that  one  could  hardly  see  from  the  stem  to  the  stern  of  the 
ship.  The  skipper  then  asked  me  whether  we  should  lie  there, 
as  there  was  nothing  in  sight.    I  told  him  to  weigh  anchor, 

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and.  although  it  was  growing  darker,  I  would,  with  that  breeze, 
bring  him  before  the  fort  in  an  hour.  The  anchor  being  raised, 
we  quickly  sailed  to  the  fort,  where  there  was  great  rejoicing, 
inasmuch  as  they  were  not  expecting  any  ship  at  that  time  of 
year.  Found  there  a  commander,  named  William  Kieft,  who 
was  sent  to  the  station  from  France,  and  had  come  in  the  spring, 
having  wintered  in  the  Bermudas,  because  they  did  not  dare 
to  venture  upon  the  coast  of  New  Xetherland,  in  consequence 
of  the  ignorance  of  their  pilots.  Going  ashore,  I  was  made 
welcome  by  the  commander,  who  invited  me  to  his  house. 

Axxo  1639.  The  5th  January  I  sent  my  people  to  Staten 
Island  to  begin  to  plant  a  colony  there,  with  assistance  to  build. 

The  4th  of  June  I  started  north  in  a  yacht  to  the  Fresh  River, 
where  the  West  India  Company  have  a  small  fort  called  the 
House  of  Hope,  and  at  night  came  to  anchor  in  Oyster  Bay, 
which  is  a  large  bay  which  lies  on  the  north  side  of  the  great 
Island,  which  is  about  thirty  miles  long.  This  bay  put  up  into 
the  island,  and  is  about  two  miles  wide  from  the  mainland.  There 
are  fine  oysters  here,  whence  our  nation  has  given  it  the  name 
of  Oyster  Bay. 

The  6th  had  good  weather  at  break  of  day,  and  got  under 
sail,  and  at  evening  arrived  at  the  Rodenberghs  *  (Red  Hills), 
which  is  a  fine  haven.  Found  that  the  English  had  begun  to 
build  a  town  on  the  mainland,  where  there  were  already  three 
hundred  houses  and  a  fine  church  built. 

The  7th,  having  weighed  anchor,  arrived  at  the  Fresh  River 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  where  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river  the  English  have  made  a  strong  fort.  There  was  a  gov- 
ernor, Lion  Gardiner,  who  had  a  Xetherland  wife  from  Worden, 
and  he  himself  had  formerly  been  an  engineer  and  working- 
baas  in  Holland.  They  cannot  sail  with  large  ships  into  this 
river;  and  vessels  must  not  draw  more  than  six  -feet  water  to 
navigate  up  to  our  little  fort,  which  lies  fifteen  miles  from  the 
mouth  of  the  river.  Besides,  there  are  many  bare  places,  or 
stone  reefs,  over  which  the  Indians  go  with  canoes.  Remained 
at  night  at  this  English  fort,  where  we  were  well  treated  by  the 
governor. 

The  8th  took  our  leave  and  went  up  the  river;  and,  having 
proceeded  about  a  mile  up  the  river,  we  met,  between  two  high 
steep  points,  some  Indians  in  canoes,  who  had  on  English  gar- 

*  New  Haven. 


334 

"1) 


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ments,  and  among  them  was  one  who  had  on  a  red  scarlet  man- 
tle. I  inquired  how  he  came  by  the  mantle.  He  had  some 
time  ago  killed  one  Captain  Stone,  with  his  people,  in  a  bark, 
from  whom  he  had  obtained  these  clothes.  This  was  the  captain 
of  whom  I  have  before  spoken  in  my  first  voyage  to  America, 
who  had  the  misfortune  of  his  boatmen  eating  each  other;  and 
he  had  now  lost  his  own  life  by  the  Indians. 

The  9th  arrived  with  the  yacht  at  the  House  of  Hope,  where 
one  Gysbert  Van  Dyck  commanded  with  fourteen  or  fifteen 
soldiers.  This  redoubt  stands  upon  a  plain  on  the  margin  of 
the  river;  and  alongside  it  runs  a  creek  to  a  high  woodland, 
out  of  which  comes  a  valley,  which  makes  this  hill,  and  where 
the  English,  in  spite  of  us,  have  begun  to  build  up  a  small  town, 
and  had  built  a  fine  church  and  over  a  hundred  houses.  The 
commander  gave  me  orders  to  make  a  protest  against  them, 
as  they  were  using  our  own  land,  which  we  had  bought  of  the 
Indians.  Some  of  our  soldiers  had  forbidden  them  to  put  the 
plough  into  it;  but  th^y  had  disregarded  them,  and  had  cud- 
gelled some  of  the  company's  soldiers.  Going  there,  I  was  in- 
vited by  the  English  governor  to  dine.  When  sitting  at  the 
table,  I  told  him  that  it  was  wrong  to  take  by  force  the  com- 
pany's land,  which  it  had  bought  and  paid  for.  He  answered 
that  the  lands  were  lying  idle;  that,  though  we  had  been  there 
many  years,  W%  had  done  scarcely  anything;  that  it  was  a  sin 
to  let  such  rich  land,  which  produced  such  fine  corn,  lie  uncul- 
tivated; and  that  they  had  already  built  three  towns  upon  this 
river,  in  a  fine  countrv.  There  are  many  salmon  up  this  river. 
These  English  live  soberly,  drink  only  three  times  at  a  meal, 
and  whoever  drinks  himself  drunk  they  tie  to  a  post  and  whip 
him,  as  they  do  thieves  in  Holland. 

The  12th.  Among  the  incidents  which  happened  while  I 
was  here  was  that  of  an  English  ketch  arriving  here  from  the 
north,  with  thirty  pipes  of  Canary  wine.  There  was  a  mer- 
chant with  it,  who  was  from  the  same  city,  in  England,  as  the 
servant  of  the  minister  of  this  town,  and  was  well  acquainted  with 
him.  Now  this  merchant  invited  the  minister's  servant  on  board 
the  vessel  to  drink  with  him;  and  it  seems  that  the  man  became 
fuddled  with  wine,  or  drank  pretty  freely,  which  was  observed 
by  the  minister.  So  they  brought  the  servant  to  the  church, 
where  the  post  stood,  in  order  to  whip  him.  The  merchant  then 
came  to  me,  and  requested  me  to  speak  to  the  minister,  as  it 
was  my  fault  that  he  had  given  wine  to  his  countryman.  I 

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accordingly  went  to  the  commander  of  our  little  fort,  or  redoubt, 
and  invited  the  minister  and  the  mayor  and  other  leading  men, 
with  their  wives,  who  were  very  fond  of  eating  cherries,  as  there 
were  from  forty  to  fifty  cherry-trees  standing  about  the  redoubt, 
full  of  cherries.  We  feasted  the  minister  and  the  governor  and 
their  wives,  who  came  to  us;  and,  as  we  were  seated  at  the  meal 
in  the  redoubt,  I,  together  with  the  merchant,  requested  the 
minister  to  pardon  his  servant,  saying  that  he  probably  had  not 
partaken  of  any  wine  for  a  year,  and  that  such  sweet  Canary 
wine  would  intoxicate  any  man.  We  were  a  long  while  before 
we  could  persuade  him;  but  their  wives  spoke  favorably,  whereby 
the  servant  got  free.  .  .  These  people  give  out  that  they  are 
Israelites,  and  that  we  at  our  colony  are  Egyptians,  and  that  the 
English  in  the  Virginias  are  also  Egyptians.  I  frequently  told 
the  governor  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  keep  the 
people  so  strict,  as  they  had  come  from  so  luxurious  a  country 
as  England. 

The  14th  took  leave  of  the  House  of  Hope.  This  river  is  a 
fine  pleasant  stream,  where  many  thousand  Christians  could 
obtain  farms. 

The  15th,  early  in  the  morning,  we  arrived  again  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  and  ran  out  of  it.  Sailed  this  day  four  miles  past 
Roode-bergh,  and  came  into  a  river  where  the  English  had  begun 
to  make  a  village,  and  where  over  fifty  houses  were  in  process 
of  erection,  and  a  portion  finished. 

The  1 6th  weighed  anchor,  and  sailed  by  two  places  which 
the  English  had  built  up,  and  at  noon  arrived  where  two  Eng- 
lishmen had  built  houses.  One  of  the  Englishmen  was  named 
Captain  Patrick,  whose  wife  was  a  Dutch  woman  from  The 
Hague.  Afte~  we  had  been  there  two  or  three  hours,  proceeded 
on  our  voyage,  and  at  evening  reached  the  Minates,  before  Fort 
Amsterdam,  where  we  found  two  ships  had  arrived  from  our 
Patria,  one  of  which  was  a  ship  of  the  Company,  the  Herring, 
the  other  was  a  private  ship,  the  Fire  oj  Troy,  from  Hoorn, 
laden  with  cattle  on  account  of  Jochem  Pietersz,  who  had  for- 
merly been  a  commander  in  the  East  Indies,  for  the  King  of 
Denmark.  It  was  to  be  wished  that  one  hundred  to  three  hun- 
dred such  families,  with  laborers,  had  come,  as  this  would 
very  soon  become  a  good  country. 

The  10th  February.  I  have  begun  to  make  a  plantation,  a 
mile  and  a  half,  or  two  miles  above  the  fort,  as  there  was  there 
a  fine  location,  and  full  thirtv-one  morgens  of  maize-land,  where 
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there  were  no  trees  to  remove;  and  hay-land  lying  all  together, 
sufficient  for  two  hundred  cattle,  which  is  a  great  article  there. 
I  went  there  to  live,  half  on  account  of  the  pleasure  of  it,  as  it 
was  all  situated  along  the  river.  I  leased  out  the  plantation  of 
Staten  Island,  as  no  people  had  been  sent  me  from  Holland, 
as  was  stipulated  in  the  contract  which  I  made  with  Frederick 
de  Vries,  a  manager  of  the  West  India  Company. 

The  15th  of  April,  I  went  with  my  sloop  to  Fort  Orange,  where 
I  wanted  to  examine  the  land,  which  is  on  the  river.  Arrived 
at  Tapaen  in  the  evening,  where  a  large  valley  of  about  two  or 
three  hundred  morgens  of  clay  soil  lies  under  the  mountain, 
three  or  four  feet  above  the  water.  A  creek,  which  comes  from 
the  highland,  runs  through  it,  on  which  fine  water-mills  could 
be  erected.  I  bought  this  valley  from  the  Indians,  as  it  was 
only  three  miles  above  my  plantation  and  five  miles  from  the 
fort.  There  was  also  much  maize-land,  but  too  stony  to  be 
ploughed. 

The  25th.  Opposite  Tapaen  lies  a  place  called  Wickquaes- 
geck,  where  there  is  much  maize-land,  but  stony  or  sandy,  and 
where  many  fir-trees  grow.  We  generally  haul  fine  masts  from 
there.    The  land  is  also  mountainous. 

The  16th,  went  further  up  the  river.  Passed  the  Averstro, 
where  a  kill  runs  out,  formed  from  a  large  fall,  the  noise  of  which 
can  be  heard  in  the  river.  The  land  is  also  very  high.  At  noon 
passed  the  highlands,  which  are  prodigiously  high  stony  moun- 
tains; and  it  is  about  a  mile  going  through  them.  Here  the 
river,  at  its  narrowest,  is  about  five  or  six  hundred  paces  wide, 
as  well  as  I  could  guess.  At  night  came  by  the  Dance-chamber , 
where  there  was  a  party  of  Indians,  who  were  very  riotous,  seek- 
ing only  mischief,  so  that  we  were  on  our  guard. 

The  27th,  we  came  to  Esoopes,  where  a  creek  runs  in;  and 
there  the  Indians  had  some  maize-land,  but  it  was  stony.  Ar- 
rived at  evening,  as  it  blew  hard,  before  the  Cats-kill.  Found 
the  river  up  to  this  point  stony  and  mountainous,  unfit  for  habi- 
tations. But  there  was  some  lowland  here,  and  the  Indians 
sowed  maize  along  the  Cats-kill. 

The  28th,  arrived  at  Beereti  (Bears')  Island,  where  wTere  many 
Indians  fishing.  Here  the  land  begins  to  be  low  along  the  margin 
of  the  river,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  it  was  good  for 
cultivation.  At  evening  we  reached  Brand-pylen's  Island, 
which  lies  a  little  below  Fort  Orange,  and  belongs  to  the  patroons, 
Godyn,  Ronselaer,  Jan  de  Laet,  and  Bloemart,  who  had  also 

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there  more  farms,  which  they  had  made  in  good  condition  at 
the  Company's  cost,  as  the  Company,  had  sent  the  cattle  from 
Fatherland  at  great  expense;  and  these  individuals,  being  the 
commissioners  of  New  Xetherland,  had  made  a  good  distribu- 
tion among  themselves,  and,  while  the  Company  had  nothing 
but  an  empty  fort,  they  had  the  farms  and  trade  around  it,  and 
every  boor  was  a  merchant. 

The  30th  of  April.  The  land  here  is,  in  general,  like  it  is  in 
France.  It  is  good,  and  very  productive  of  everything  neces- 
sary for  the  life  of  man,  except  clothes,  linens,  woollens,  shoes, 
and  stockings;  but  these  they  could  have  if  the  country  were 
well  populated,  and  there  could  be  made  good  leather  of  the 
hides  of  animals,  which  multiply  in  great  quantities.  Good  tan 
could  be  made  of  the  bark  of  oak-trees.  The  land  all  along 
this  river  is  very  mountainous.  Some  cliffs  of  stone  are  ex- 
ceedingly high,  upon  which  grow  fine  fir-trees,  which  may  be 
discerned  with  the  eye.  There  are,  besides,  in  this  country 
oaks,  alders,  beeches,  elms,  and  willows,  both  in  the  woods 
and  along  the  water.  The  islands  are  covered  with  chestnut, 
plum,  and  hazel-nut  trees,  and  large  walnuts  of  different  kinds, 
of  as  good  flavor  as  they  are  in  Fatherland,  but  hard  of  shell. 
The  ground  on  the  mountains  is  bedecked  with  shrubs  cf  bil- 
berries or  blueberries,  such  as  in  Holland  come  from  Veeluwes. 
The  level  land,  or  old  maize-land,  is  covered  with  strawberries, 
which  grow  here  so  plentifully  that  they  answer  for  food.  There 
are  also  in  the  woods,  as  well  as  along  the  river,  vines  very  abun- 
dant of  two  kinds,  one  bearing  good  blue  grapes,  which  are 
pleasant  when  the  vines  are  pruned,  and  of  which  good  wine 
could  be  made.  The  other  kind  is  like  the  grapes  which  grow 
in  France  on  trellises, — the  large  white  ones  which  they  make 
verjuice  of  in  France.  They  are  as  large  as  the  joints  of  the 
fingers,  but  require  great  labor,  for  these  vines  grow  in  this 
country  on  the  trees,  and  the  grapes  are  like  the  wild  grapes 
which  grow  along  the  roads  in  France,  on  vines  which  are  not 
pruned,  and  which  are  thick  with  wood,  with  little  sap  in  it, 
for  want  of  being  attended  to.  There  was  this  year,  as  they  told 
me,  a  large  quaiitity  of  deer  at  harvest  and  through  the  winter, 
very  fat.  having  upon  their  ribs  upwards  of  two  fingers  of  tal- 
low, so  that  they  were  nothing  else  than  clear  fat.  They  also 
had  this  year  great  numbers  of  turkeys.  They  could  buy  a 
deer  for  a*  loaf  of  bread,  or  for  a  knife,  or  even  for  a  tobacco- 
pipe.  At  other  time-  they  give  cloth,  worth  six  or  seven  guilders. 
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There  are  many  partridges,  heath-hens,  and  pigeons  which 
fly  together  in  thousands,  and  our  people  sometimes  shoot  thirty, 
forty,  and  fifty  of  them  at  a  shot.  Plenty  of  fowl,  such  as  be- 
long to  the  river,  and  all  along  the  river  are  great  numbers  of 
them  of  different  kinds,  such  as  swans,  geese,  pigeons,  teal, 
and  wild  geese,  which  go  up  the  river  in  the  spring  by  thousands, 
from  the  seacoast,  and  fly  back  again  in  the  fall. 

Whilst  I  was  at  Fort  Orange,  the  30th  of  April,  there  was 
such  a  high  flood  at  the  island  on  which  Brand-pylen  lived — 
who  was  my  host  at  this  time — that  we  were  compelled  to  leave 
the  island,  and  go  with  boats  into  the  house,  where  there  were 
four  feet  of  water.  This  flood  continued  three  days,  before  we 
could  use  the  dwelling  again.  The  water  ran  into  the  fort,  and 
we  were  compelled  to  repair  to  the  woods,  where  we  erected 
tents  and  kindled  large  fires.  These  woods  are  full  of  animals, 
bears,  wolves,  foxes,  and  especially  of  snakes,  black  snakes, 
and  rattlesnakes,  which  are  very  poisonous,  and  which  have 
a  rattle  at  the  end  of  the  tail,  with  many  rattles,  according  to 
their  age.  As  to  what  the  land  produces,  the  soil,  which  on  the 
mountains  is  a  red  sand  or  cliffs  of  stone,  but  in  the  low  plains 
often  clay  ground,  is  very  fertile,  as  Brand-pylen  told  me  that 
he  had  produced  wheat  on  this  island  for  twelve  years  succes- 
sively without  its  lying  fallow.  He  also  told  me  that  here  the 
Indians  put  their  enemies  to  death,  as  horribly  as  this  plate  shows, 
and  had  for  some  time  past  done  justice  to  their  enemies  in  this 
place.  They  place  their  foe  against  a  tree  or  stake,  and  first 
tear  all  the  nails  from  his  fingers,  and  run  them  on  a  string,  which 
they  wear  the  same  as  we  do  gold  chains.  It  is  considered  to 
the  honor  of  any  chief  who  has  vanquished  or  overcome  his 
enemies,  if  he  bite  off  or  cut  off  some  of  their  members,  as  whole 
fingers.  Afterward  the  prisoner  is  compelled  to  sing  and  dance, 
entirely  naked,  before  them;  and,  finally,  when  they  burn  the 
captive,  they  kill  him  with  a  slow  fire,  and  then  eat  him  up,  the 
commoners  eating  the  arms  and  buttocks,  and  the  chiefs  eat- 
ing the  head.  When  these  Indians  fasten  their  enemy  to  the 
stake,  he  is  compelled  to  sing,  and  accordingly  begins  to  sing 
of  his  friends,  who  will  avenge  his  death.  They  inflict  a  cruel 
death  upon  him,  pricking  his  body  with  hot  burning  wood  in 
different  parts,  till  he  is  tormented  to  death.  They  then  tear 
his  heart  out  of  his  body,  which  every  one  eats  a  piece  of,  in  order 
to  embitter  themselves  against  their  enemies.  Along  this  land 
runs  an  excellent  river,  which  comes  out  of  the  Maquas  Countv, 


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about  four  miles  to  the  north  of  Fort  Orange.  I  went  there 
with  some  Indians,  and  passed  by  a  farm  upon  which  a  boor 
lived,  whom  they  called  Brother  Cornells.  This  river  runs  be- 
tween two  high  rocky  banks,  and  falls  over  a  rock  as  high  as  a 
church,  with  such  a  noise  that  it  is  frequently  heard  at  the  farm, 
and  when  I  was  there  it  made  such  a  loud  noise  that  we  could 
hardly  hear  each  other  speak.  The  water  flowed  by  with  such 
force  that  it  was  all  the  time  as  if  it  were  raining,  and  the  trees 
upon  the  hills,  as  high  as  the  dunes  at  home,  have  their  boughs 
constantly  wet  as  if  with  rain.  The  water  is  as  clear  as  crystal 
and  fresh  as  milk,  and  appears  all  the  time  as  if  a  rainbow  stood 
in  it,  but  that  arises  from  its  clearness.  There  are  a  great  many 
Indians  here,  whom  they  call  Maquas,  who  catch  many  lam- 
preys, otherwise  called  pricks.  The  river  is  about  six  hundred 
to  seven  hundred  paces  wide  at  this  place,  and  contains  large 
quantities  of  fine  fish,  such  as  pike,  perch,  eels,  suckers,  thick- 
heads, sunrish,  shad,  striped  bass,  which  is  a  fish  which  comes 
from  the  sea  in  the  spring,  and  swims  up  the  river  into  the  fresh 
water  as  the  salmon  does..  There  are  sturgeon,  but  our  people 
will  not  eat  them;  also  trout,  slightly  yellow  inside,  which  I 
myself  have  caught,  and  which  are  considered  in  France  the 
finest  of  fish.  There  are  several  islands  in  this  river,  of  thirty, 
fifty,  and  seventy  morgens  of  land  in  size.  The  soil  is  very  good. 
The  temperature  is  in  extremes,  in  the  summer  excessively  hot, 
and  in  winter  exceedingly  cold,  so  that  in  one  night  the  ice  will 
freeze  hard  enough  to  bear  one.  The  summer  continues  to 
All  Saints'  Day;  and  in  December  it  will  freeze  so  hard  that 
if  there  be  a  strong  current,  which  loosens  it,  it  will  freeze  in  a 
night  what  has  run  over  it  in  the  day.  The  ice  continues  gen- 
erally for  three  months,  and,  although  the  latitude  is  forty-three, 
it  is,  nevertheless,  always  frozen  for  that  period;  for,  though 
sometimes  it  thaws  in  pleasant  days,  it  does  not  continue  to  do 
so,  but  it  freezes  again  until  March,  when  the  river  first  begins 
to  open,  sometimes  in  February,  though  seldom.  The  severest 
cold  comes  from  the  north-west,  as  in  Holland  from  the  north- 
east. The  reason  of  this  cold  is  that  the  mountains  to  the  north 
of  it  are  covered!  with  snow;  and  the  north-west  wind  comes 
blowing  over  them,  and  drives  all  the  cold  down.  This  tribe 
of  Indians  was  formerly  a  powerful  nation,  but  they  are  brought 
into  subjection,  and  made  tributaries  by  the  Maquas.  They 
are  stout  men,  well  favored  of  countenance,  body,  and  limb, 
but  all  of  them  have  black  hair  and  yellow  skin.  They  go  naked 
340 


9 


in  the  summer.  ...  In  winter  they  throw  over  them  an  un- 
prepared deer-skin  or  bear's  hide,  or  a  covering  of  turkey's  feath- 
ers, which  they  know  how  to  make;  or  they  buy  duffels  of  us, 
two  ells  and  a  half  long,  and  unsewed,  go  off  with  it,  surveying 
Lhemselves,  and  think  that  they  appear  fine.  They  make  them- 
selves shoes  and  stockings  of  deer-skins,  or  they  take  the  leaves 
of  maize  and  braid  them  together,  and  use  them  for  shoes.  Men 
and  women  go  with  their  heads  bare.  The  women  let  their 
hair  grow  very  long,  tie  it  together  a  little,  and  let  it  hang  down 
the  back.  Some  of  the  men  have  it  on  one  side  of  the  head, 
others  have  a  lock  hanging  on  each  side.  On  the  top  of  the 
head  they  have  a  strip  of  hair  froni  the  forehead  to  the  neck, 
about  three  ringers  broad,  and  cut  two  or  three  ringers  long. 
It  then  stands  straight  up  like  a  cock's-comb.  On  both  sides 
of  this  cock's-comb  they  cut  it  off  close,  except  the  locks,  as  may 
be  seen  in  the  plate.  They  paint  their  faces  red,  blue,  and  brown, 
and  look  like  the  devil  himself.  They  smear  their  foreheads 
with  bear  grease,  ^hich  they  carry  along  with  them  in  little 
baskets.  It  would  be  much  better  fcr  them  to  wash  themselves, 
if  they  only  thought  so,  and  they  would  net  be  troubled  with 
lice.  Whenever  they  go  journeying,  they  take  with  them  some 
maize  and  a  kettle,  with  a  weeden  bowl  and  spoon,  which  they 
pack  up  together  and  hang  on  their  backs.  When  they  become 
hungry,  they  immediately  make  a  fire  and  cock  it.  They  make 
the  fire  by  rubbing  sticks  together,  and  that  very  rapidly. 

.  .  .  After  I  had  observed  the  manners  of  these  Indians,  who 
carry  on  a  fierce  war  with  the  French  Indians,  Corlear  told  me 
that  he  had  been  at  their  fort,  where  they  had  brought  some 
Indians  they  had  captured  on  the  liver  St.  Lawrence,  where 
the  French  live.  They  had  taken  three  Frenchmen,  one  of 
whom  was  a.  Jesuit, — whose  release  our  people  hoped  to  obtain, — 
and  had  killed  one*  All  the  children,  of  ten  or  twelve  years 
of  age,  and  the  women  whom  they  had  taken  in  the  war,  they 
spared,  except  the  very  old  women,  whom  they  killed.  Though 
they  are  so  revengeful  toward  their  enemies,  they  are  very  friendly 
to  us.  We  have  no  fear  of  them;  we  go  with  them  into  the 
woods;  we  meet  each  other  sometimes  at  an  hour  or  two's  dis- 
tance from  any  house,  and  we  think  nothing  more  of  it  than  if 
a  Christian  met  us.    They  also  sleep  in  the  chambers  before 


*  The  Jesuit  Father  here  referred  to  was  Father  Jogues.  The  person  killed  was  Ren£ 
Goupil. 

341 


10 


our  beds,  but  lying  down  upon  the  bare  ground,  with  a  stone 
or  piece  of  wood  under  the  head.  They  are  very  slovenly  and 
dirt}-.  They  do  not  wash  their  faces  and  their  hands,  but  let 
all  remain  upon  their  yellow  skin,  just  as  the  savages  do  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  look  like  hogs.  Their  bread  is  maize, 
beaten  between  two  stones,  when  they  are  travelling,  but  pounded 
sometimes,  when  they  are  in  their  houses,  in  a  large  block,  hol- 
lowed out,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  plate.  They  make  cakes  of  it, 
and  bake  them  in  the  ashes.  Their  other  food  is  deer,  turkeys, 
hares,  bears,  wild  cats,  and  their  own  dogs,  etc.  They  cook 
their  fish  as  they  take  them  from  the  water  without  cleaning 
them.  They  cook  the  deer  with  the  entrails  and  all  their  con- 
tents, and  very  little;  and,  if  the  entrails  are  then  too  tough, 
they  take  one  end  in  the  mouth  and  the  other  in  the  hands,  and 
between  the  hand  and  mouth  they  cut  or  separate  them.  They 
do  the  same  thing  generally  with  the  flesh,  for  they  carve  little. 
They  lay  it  in  the  fire  as  long  as  it  takes  to  count  an  hundred, 
as  in  France  a  steak  is  laid  upon  a  gridiron.  It  is  then  done 
enough;  and,  when  they  bite  into  it,  the  blood  runs  down  the 
sides  of  the  mouth.  They  will  also  eat  up  a  piece  of  bear's 
fat  as  large  as  two  fists,  without  bread  or  anything  else.  It 
is  natural  for  them  to  have  no  beards,  and  not  one  among  a  hun- 
dred has  any  hair  around  his  mouth.  They  also  have  a  great 
conceit  of  themselves;  and  in  praising  themselves  they  say, 
"I  am  the  devil,"  meaning  that  they  are  superior  men.  When 
they  praise  their  tribe,  they  say  they  are  great  hunters  of  deer, 
or  do  this  or  that.  So  they  say  of  all  the  Mahakunosers, — they 
"are  great  wise  devils."  They  make  their  dwellings  of  the 
bark  of  trees,  very  close  and  warm,  and  kindle  the  fire  in  the 
middle.  Their  canoes  or  boats  are  made  of  the  bark  of  trees 
and  will  carry  five  or  six  persons.  They  also  hollow  out  trees, 
and  use  them  for  boats  and  skirl's,  some  of  which  are  very  large, 
and  I  have  frequently  seen  eighteen  or  twenty  seated  in  a  hol- 
low log,  going  along  the  river;  and  I  have  myself  had  a  wooden 
canoe,  in  which  I  could  carry  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  bushels 
of  maize.  The  weapons  in  war  were  bows  and  arrows,  stone 
axes,  and  clap-hammers,  but  they  have  now  obtained  guns  from 
our  people.  He  was  a  villain  who  first  sold  them  to  them,  and 
showed  them  how  to  use  them.  They  say  it  was  the  devil,  and 
that  they  durst  not  touch  them  till  an  Indian  came  there  with 
a  gun,  which  they  call  Kallebacker.  They  also  buy  swords  and 
iron  axes  from  us.    Their  money  is  small  bead-  made  on  the 

3\- 


seaside,  of  shells  or  cockles,  which  are  found  on  the  shore;  and 
these  cockles  they  grind  upon  a  stone  as  thin  as  they  wish  them, 
and  then  drill  a  small  hole  through  them,  and  string  them  on 
threads,  or  make  bands  of  them  the  breadth  of  a  hand  or  more, 
which  they  hang  on  the  shoulders  and  round  the  body.  They 
have  also  divers  holes  in  their  ears,  from  which  they  hang  them, 
and  make  caps  of  them  for  the  head.  There  are  two  kinds. 
The  white  are  the  least  and  the  brown-blue  are  the  most  val- 
uable; and  they  give  two  white  beads  for  one  brown.  They 
call  them  Zeewan,  and  have  as  great  a  fancy  for  them  as  many 
Christians  have  for  gold,  silver,  and  pearls.  For  our  gold  they 
have  hardly  any  desire,  and  consider  it  no  better  than  iron,  and 
say  that  we  are  silly  to  esteem  a  piece  of  iron  so  highly,  which 
if  they  had  they  would  throw  into  the  water.  Though  they  bury 
their  dead,  they  place  them  in  a  hole  in  a  sitting  posture,  and 
not  lying,  and  then  throw  trees  and  wood  upon  the  grave,  or 
enclose  it  with  palisades.  They  have  their  set  times  when  they 
go  to  fish.  In  the  spring  they  catch  immense  numbers  of  shad 
and  lampreys,  which  are  very  large.  These  they  lay  in  the 
sun,  upon  the  bark  of  trees,  and  dry  thoroughly  hard,  and  then 
put  them  in  notessen  or  bags,  which  they  plait  of  hemp,  which 
grows  wild,  and  keep  the  fish  in  them  till  winter,  when  their 
maize  is  ripe,  from  which  they  take  the  ears  and  pile  them  up 
in  caves,  and  keep  them  there  the  whole  winter.  They  also  knit 
bow-nets  and  seines  in  their  style.  From  religion,  and  all  wor- 
ship of  God,  they  are  entirely  estranged.  They  have,  indeed, 
one  whom  they  call  by  a  strange  name,  wTho  is  a  genius,  whom 
they  regard  instead  of  God,  but  they  do  not  serve  him  or  make 
offerings  to  him.  They  serve,  revere,  and  make  offerings  to 
the  devil,  whom  they  call  Ostkon,  or  Ayreskuoni;  for,  when  they 
have  any  misfortune  in  war,  they  catch  a  beaf,  which  they  cut 
into  pieces  and  burn,  and  offer  it  to  their  Ayreskuoni,  saying 
the  following  words  in  their  language:  "  O,  great  and  power- 
ful Ayreskuoni,  we  know  that  we  have  sinned  against  thee,  be- 
cause we  have  not  killed  and  eaten  up  the  enemies  we  took  cap- 
tive. Forgive  us  this.  We  promise  that  we  will  kill  and  eat 
up  all  those  whom  we  shall  hereafter  take  prisoners  as  heartily 
as  we  have  killed  and  eaten  up  this  bear."  So  when  it  is  hot 
weather,  and  there  comes  a  cooling  wind,  they  immediately 
cry  out,  "  Asoronusi" — that  is,  "I  thank  you,  devil,  I  thank  you, 
Oomke";  and  when  they  are  sick,  and  have  any  sore  or  pain 
in  the  limbs,  and  I  ask  them  what  ails  them,  they  say  that  the 

343 


12 


devil  is  in  the  body,  or  is  sitting  in  the  sore  places  and  bites  them 
there.  They  attribute  to  the  devil  whatever  happens  to  them, 
otherwise  they  know  of  no  worship  of  God.  They  ridicule  us 
when  we  pray.  Some  of  them,  when  it  was  told  them  what  we 
prayed,  stood  in  wonder,  and  asked  me  whether  I  had  seen  in 
our  country  Him  whom  I  worshipped.  .  .  .  These  Maeckquase 
Indians  are  divided  into  three  tribes,  one  of  which  takes  its  desig- 
nation from  the  bear,  another  from  the  wild  tortoise,  the  third 
from  the  wolf;  and  of  these  that  of  the  tortoise  is  the  greatest 
and  most  celebrated,  and  claims  to  be  the  oldest.  These  Indians 
each  have  upon  their  banners  the  animal  after  which  the}'  are 
named,  and,  when  they  go  to  war,  carry  it  as  a  sign  of  terror 
to  their  enemies,  as  they  suppose,  and  of  courage  to  themselves. 

Their  government  rests  with  the  oldest,  wisest,  best-spoken, 
and  bravest  men,  who  generally  resolve,  and  the  young  men 
and  the  bravest  execute,  but,  if  the  commonalty  do  not  approve 
of  the  resolution,  it  is  then  submitted  to  the  decision  of  the  whole 
populace.  The  chiefs  are  generally  the  poorest  among  them, 
for  instead  of  their  receiving  anything,  as  amongst  Christians, 
from  the  commonalty,  or  of  those  in  office  enriching  themselves 
by  unrighteous  means  or  otherwise,  these  Indian  chiefs  are  made 
to  give  to  the  populace,  especially  whenever  there  is  any  one 
left  dead  in  war,  and  they  then  give  large  presents  to  the  next 
of  blood  kin  to  the  deceased;  and,  if  they  then  take  a  prisoner, 
they  give  him  to  the  family  to  which  the  dead  man  belonged, 
and  the  prisoner  is  then  adopted  by  that  family  in  place  of  the 
deceased.  There  is  hardly  any  punishment  for  murder  and 
other  crimes,  but  each  one  is  his  own  judge,  and  the  bereaved 
friends  revenge  themselves  upon  the  murderer  until  he  buys 
his  peace  by  presents  to  the  relatives.  Although  they  are  cruel, 
and  live  without  any  punishment  of  evil-doers,  there  is  not  one- 
fourth  part  as  much  roguery  and  murder  among  them  as  there 
is  among  Christians,  so  that  I  have  frequently  wondered  what 
murders  happened  in  Fatherland,  notwithstanding  such  severe 
laws  and  penalties,  while  these  Indians,  living  without  laws  or 
fear  of  punishment,  kill  very  few,  and  then  only  in  anger  and 
personal  combat."  We  are,  therefore,  entirely  without  fear  in 
going  with  the  Indians,  and  walk  an  hour  with  them  in  the  woods 
without  harm.  After  I  hud  observed  the  above-written  cir- 
cumstanced and  manners  of  the  Indians,  I  set  out  again  for  the 
river. 

The  14th  May,  took  my  leave  of  the  Commander  at  I  t 
344 


i.3 


Orange,  and  the  same  day  reached  Esopers,  where  a  creek  runs 
in,  and  where  there  is  some  maize-land  upon  which  some  Indians 
live. 

The  15th,  got  under  sail  at  break  of  day,  with  the  ebb-tide, 
and  at  noon  came  to  the  Dance-chamber,  where  there  were 
many  Indians  fishing;  passed  the  Highlands,  and  at  evening 
anchored  at  Tapaen,  and  remained  there  all  night,  near  the  Ind- 
ians, who  were  fishing. 

The  1 6th,  weighed  anchor,  and  sailed,  with  the  ebb  and  a 
strong  breeze  from  the  north-west,  in  three  hours  to  the  Fort. 
The  above-named  river  has  nothing  but  mountains  on  both  sides, 
little  capable  of  sustaining  a  population,  as  there  are  only  cliffs 
and  stones  along  the  river,  as  I  have  related  before.  There  is 
here  and  there  some  maize-land,  from  which  the  Indians  re- 
move the  stones  and  cultivate  it.  The  tide  flows  up  to  Fort 
Orange  by  the  pressure  of  the  sea. 

The  1 6th  July,  Cornelis  Van  Thienhoven,  Secretary  of  Xew 
Netherland,  departed  with  a  commission  from  the  head  men 
and  council  of  New  Netherland,  with  a  hundred  armed  men, 
to  the  Raritanghe,  a  nation  of  Indians  who  live  where  a  little 
stream  runs  up  about  five  miles  behind  Staten  Island,  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  satisfaction  from  the  Indians  for  the  hos- 
tilities committed  by  them  upon  Staten  Island,  in  killing  my 
swine  and  those  of  the  Company,  which  a  negro  watched, — whom 
I  had  been  solicited  to  place  there, — in  robbing  the  watch-house, 
and  in  attempting  to  run  off  with  the  yacht  Vrede,  of  which 
Cornelis  Pietersz  was  master,  and  which  met  with  an  accident, 
and  for  other  acts  of  insolence.  Van  Thienhoven  having  arrived 
there  with  the  said  troop,  demanded  satisfaction  according  to 
his  orders.  The  troop  wished  to  kill  and  plunder,  which  could 
not  be  permitted,  as  Van  Thienhoven  said  he  had  no  orders  to 
do  so.  Finally,  on  account  of  the  pertinacity  of  the  troop,  the 
said  Van  Thienhoven  went  away,  protesting  against  any  injury 
which  should  happen  by  reason  of  their  disobedience  and  viola- 
tion of  orders;  and,  having  gone  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  the  troop 
killed  several  of  the  Indians,  and  brought  the  brother  of  the 
chief  a  prisoner,  for  whom  Van  Thienhoven  had  been  surety 
before  in  eighty  fathoms  of  Zeewan,  otherwise  he,  too,  must 
have  been  put  to  death.  Whereupon  the  Indians,  as  will  here- 
after be  related,  killed  four  of  my  men,  burned  my  house,  and 
the  house  of  David  Pietersz  De  Vries.*    I  learned  also  from 

*  This  is  probably  a  mistake  for  Frederick  de  Yries. 

345 


14 


Thienhoven  that  one  Loockmans,  standing  on  the  mast,  had 
misused  the  chief's  brother  .  .  .  with  a  piece  of  wood,  and 
that  such  acts  of  tyranny  were  perpetrated  by  the  officers 
of  the  Company  as  were  far  from  making  friends  with  the 
inhabitants. 

The  20th  of  October,  I  went  with  my  sloop  to  Tapaen  in  order 
to  trade  for  maize  or  Indian  corn.  I  found  the  Company's 
sloop  there  for  the  purpose  of  levying  a  contribution  from  the 
Indian  Christians,  of  a  quantity  of  corn.  The  Indians  called 
to  me  and  inquired  what  I  wanted.  I  answered  that  I  desired 
to  exchange  cloth  for  corn.  They  said  they  could  not  help  me. 
I  must  go  up  the  river,  and,  should  the  Company's  sloop  in  the 
mean  time  get  away,  they  would  then  trade  with  me;  that  they 
were  very  much  surprised  that  the  Sachem,  who  was  now 
at  the  Fort,  dare  exact  it;  and  he  must  be  a  very  mean  fellow 
to  come  to  this  country  without  being  invited  by  them,  and  now 
wish  to  compel  them  to  give  him  their  corn  for  nothing;  that 
they  had  not  raised  it  in  great  abundance,  as  one  chief  had  gen- 
erally but  two  women  who  planted  corn,  and  that  they  had  cal- 
culated only  for  their  own  necessities,  and  to  barter  some  for 
cloth.  So  this  affair  began  to  cause  much  dissatisfaction  among 
the  Indians. 

The  ist  of  December.  I  have  begun  to  take  hold  of  Vries- 
sendale,  as  it  was  a  fine  place,  situated  along  the  river,  under 
the  mountains,  and  at  an  hour  and  a  half's  journey  there  is  a 
valley  where  hay  can  be  raised  for  two  hundred  head  of  cattle, 
and  where  there  is  thirty  morgens  of  corn-land,  and  where  I 
have  sown  wheat  which  grew  higher  than  the  tallest  man  in  the 
country.  Here  were  also  two  fine  falls  from  the  mountains, 
where  two  good  mills  could  be  erected  for  grinding  corn  and 
sawing  plank.  It  was  a  beautiful  and  pleasant  place  for  hunt- 
ing deer,  wild  turkeys,  and  pigeons;  but  the  evil  of  it  was  that, 
though  I  earnestly  took  hold  of  the  place,  I  was  not  seconded 
by  mv  partner,  according  to  our  agreement,  who  was  Fred- 
erick De  Vries,  a  manager  of  the  Company,  and  who  thought 
that  colonies  could  be  built  up  without  men  or  means,  as  his 
idea  was  that  Godyn,  Gilliam*  Van  Rensselaer,  Moemart, 
and  Jan  de  Laet  had  established  their  colonies  with  the  means 
of  the  Company,  which  had  brought  there  all  the  cattle  and  the 
farmer-,  and  then  the  work  began  to  progress.  These  persons 
were  managers  of  the  Company  and  commissioners  of  New  Wui- 
erland,  and  helped  themselves  by  the  cunning  tricks  of  m<  r- 

*  Kili  u  n. 

346 


15 


chants;  and  the  Company,  having  about  that  time  come  into 
possession  of  Peter  Heyn's.  booty,  bestowed  not  a  thought  upon 
their  best  trading-post  at  Fort  Orange,  or  whether  they  would 
make  farms  there  or  not;  but  these  fellows,  through  Rensselaer, 
who  was  accustomed  to  refine  pearls  and  diamonds,  succeeded 
in  taking  it  from  the  other  managers — partners.  Michael  Pauw, 
discovering  that  they  had  appropriated  the  land  at  Fort  Orange 
to  themselves,  immediately  had  the  land  lying  opposite  Fort 
Amsterdam,  where  the  Indians  are  compelled  to  cross  to  the  fort 
with  their  beavers,  registered  for  himself,  and  called  it  Pavonia. 
The  Company,  seeing  afterwards  that  they  were  affected,  much 
contention  and  jealousy  was  caused  among  them,  because  they 
who  undertook  to  plant  colonies  with  their  own  money  should 
have  taken  the  property  of  the  Company.  Thus  was  the  coun- 
try kept  by  these  disputes,  so  that  it  was  not  settled;  for  there 
were  friends  enough  who  would  have  peopled  the  country  by 
patroonships,  but  they  were  always  prevented  by  the  contention 
of  the  managers,  who  were  not  willing  to  do  anything  themselves, 
for  they  would  rather  see  booty  arrive  than  to  speak  of  their 
colonies;  but,  had  the  land  been  peopled,  the  fruit  thereof  would 
have  been  long  continued,  while  their  booty  has  vanished  like 
smoke.  There  may  be  some  managers  and  book-keepers  who 
are  well  off  by  it,  but  it  does  no  good  to  the  community,  as  the 
cultivation  of  the  soil  where  every  one  is  well  off,  and  there  is 
a  steady  income,  is  better  than  all  the  booty  which  we  see  con- 
sumed in  bawdy-houses;  for  where  is  now  all  the  booty  of  which 
the  Dunkirkers  have  robbed  us,  and  also  all  the  booty  of  Flush- 
ing, which  was  taken  from  the  Portuguese?  It  has  also  van- 
ished like  smoke,  and  those  privateers  who  have  taken  it  have 
gone  to  naught.  .  .  . 

Axxo  1 64 1.  The  20th  August,  the  ship  Eyckenboom  (Oak- 
tree)  arrived  here,  in  which  came  a  person  named  Malyn, 
who  said  that  Staten  Island  belonged  to  him,  that  it  was  given 
by  the  managers  to  him  and  to  Heer  Vander  Horst,  which  I 
could  not  believe,  as  I  had  sailed  in  the  year  thirty-eight  to  take 
possession  of  said  Island,  and  my  men  were  now  upon  it.  I 
thought  better  things  of  the  managers  than  this,  as  the  sixth 
article  of  privileges  mentions  that  the  first  occupants  shall  not 
be  prejudiced  in  their  right  of  possession. 

The  1st  of  September,  my  men  on  Staten  Island  were  killed 
by  the  Indians;  and  the  Raritans  told  an  Indian,  who  worked 
for  my  people,  that  we  might  now  come  to  fight  them  on  account 

347 


i6 


of  our  men;  that  we  had  before  come  and  treated  them  badly 
on  account  of  the  swine;  that  there  had  been  laid  to  their  charge 
what  thcw  were  not  guilty  of,  and  what  had  been  done  by  the 
Company's  men  when  they  were  on  their  way  to  the  South  River, 
who  came  ashore  on  Staten  Island  to  cut  wood  and  haul  water, 
and  then  at  the  same  time  stole  the  hogs,  and  charged  the  act 
upon  the  innocent  Indians,  who,  although  they  are  bad  enough, 
will  do  you  no  harm  if  you  do  them  none.  Thus  I  lost  the  be- 
ginning of  my  colony  on  Staten  Island,  by  the  orders  of  Com- 
mander Kieft,  who  wished  to  charge  upon  the  Indians  what 
his  own  people  had  done. 

The  2d  of  November,  there  came  a  chief  of  the  Indians  of 
Tankitekes,  named  Pacham,  who  was  great  with  the  governor 
of  the  fort.  He  came  in  great  triumph,  bringing  a  dead  hand 
hanging  on  a  stick,  and  saying  that  it  was  the  hand  of  the  chief 
who  had  killed  or  shot  with  arrows  our  men  on  Staten  Island, 
and  that  he  had  taken  revenge  for  our  sake,  because  he  loved 
the  Swannakens  (as  they  call  the  Dutch),  who  were  his  best  friends. 

The  same  day  Commander  Kieft  asked  me  whether  I  would 
permit  Malyn  to  go  upon  the  point  of  Staten  Island,  where  the 
maize-land  lay,  saying  that  he  wished  to  let  him  plant  it,  and 
that  he  would  place  soldiers  there,  who  would  make  a  signal 
by  raising  a  flag,  to  make  known  at  the  fort  whenever  ships  were 
in  the  bay,  to  which  I  have  consented, — but  am  not  to  be  preju- 
diced thereby, — and  to  let  him  have  twelve  to  fourteen  or  fifteen 
morgens  of  land,  without  abridging  my  right,  as  he  intended 
to  distil  brandy  and  make  goat's  leather. 

Axxo  1642.  As  I  was  daily  with  Commander  Kieft,  gen- 
erally dining  with  him  when  I  went  to  the  fort,  he  told  me  that 
ne  had  now  had  a  fine  inn,  built  of  stone,  in  order  to  accommodate 
the  English  who  daily  passed  with  their  vessels  from  New  Eng- 
land to  Virginia,  from  whom  he  suffered  great  annoyance,  and 
who  might  now  lodge  in  the  tavern.  I  replied  that  it  happened 
well  for  the  travellers,  but  there  was  great  want  of  a  church, 
and  that  it  was  a  scandal  to  us  when  the  . English  passed  there, 
and  saw  only  a  mean  barn  in  which  we  preached;  that  the  first 
thing  which  the  English  built,  after  their  dwellings,  was  a  fine 
church,  and  we  ought  to  do  so,  too,  as  the  West  India  Company 
was  deemed  to  be  a  principal  means  of  upholding  the  Reformed 
Religion  against  the  tyranny  of  Spain,  and  had  excellent  ma- 
terial therefor, — namely,  fine  oak-wood,  good  mountain  stone, 
and  lime  burnt  of  oyster  shells,  much  better  than  our  lime  in 
348 


17 


Holland.  He  then  inquired  who  would  superintend  the  work. 
I  answered  the  lovers  of  the  Reformed  Religion  who  were  truly 
so.  He  then  said  that  I  must  be  one  of  them,  as  I  proposed  it, 
and  must  give  an  hundred  guilders.  I  told  him  that  I  was  sat- 
isfied, and  that  he  must  be  the  first  to  give,  as  he  was  commander, 
and  then  elect  Jochem  Pietersz  Kuyter,  a  devout  person  of  the 
Reformed  Religion,  who  had  good  workmen  who  would  quickly 
prepare  the  timber,  and  also  elect  Damen,  because  he  lived  close 
by  the  fort;  that  we  four,  as  church  wardens,  should  undertake 
the  work  of  building  the  church;  that  the  commander  should 
give  several  thousand  guilders  on  behalf  of  the  Company,  and 
then  it  would  immediately  be  seen  whether  the  rest  would  be 
subscribed  by  the  community;  that  the  church  should  be  built 
in  the  fort,  to  guard  against  any  surprise  by  the  Indians.  Thus 
were  the  walls  of  the  church  speedily  begun  to  be  laid  up  with 
quarry-stone,  and  to  be  covered  by  the  English  carpenters  with 
slate,  or  rather  with  oak-shingles,  which,  by  exposure  to  the 
wind  and  rain,  turn  blue,  and  look  as  if  they  were  slate. 

About  the  same  time  a  harmless  Dutchman,  named  Claes 
Rademaker  (wheelwright),  was  murdered  by  an  Indian.  He 
lived  a  short  mile  from  the  fort  by  the  Densel-b&y,  where  he 
had  built  a  small  house,  and  had  set  up  the  trade  of  wheelwright. 
It  was  on  the  road  over  which  the  Indians  from  Wickquasgeck 
passed  daily.  It  happened  that  an  Indian  came  to  this  Claes 
Rademaker  for  the  purpose  of  trading  beavers  with  him  for 
duffels-cloth,  which  goods  were  in  a  chest.  This  chest  he  had 
locked  up,  and  stooped  down  in  order  to  take  his  goods  out,  when 
this  murderer,  the  Indian,  seeing  that  the  man  had  his  head 
bent  over  into  the  chest,  and  observing  an  axe  standing  behind 
him,  seized  the  axe,  and  struck  Claes  Rademaker  on  the  neck 
therewith,  who  fell  down  dead  by  the  chest.  The  murderer 
then  stole,  all  the  goods  and  ran  off.  The  commander  sent 
to  Wickquasgeck  to  inquire  why  this  Dutchman  had  been  so 
shamefully  murdered.  The  murderer  answered  that,  while 
the  fort  was  being  built,  he  came  with  his  uncle  and  another 
Indian  to  the  freshwater,  bringing  beavers,  in  order  to  trade 
with  the  Dutchmen,  that  some  Swannekes  (as  they  call  the  Neth- 
erlander) came  there,  took  away  from  his  uncle  his  beavers, 
and  then  killed  him.  He  was  then  a  small  boy,  and  resolved, 
when  he  should  grow  up,  he  would  revenge  that  deed  upon  the 
Dutch,  and  since  then  he  had  seen  no  better  chance  to  do  so 
than  with  Claes  Rademaker.    Thus  these  Indians  resemble 


349 


i8 


the  Italians,  being  very  revengeful.    Commander  Kieft  after- 
wards made  an  attempt  to  send  some  soldiers  there,  of  whom 
Van  Dvck,  the  ensign-bearer,  had  the  command,  but  in  conse- 
quence'of  the  darkness  of  the  night  the  guides  missed  the  way, 
and  arrived  there  too  late  in  the  day,  so  that  the  attempt  failed, 
and  they  returned  again  without  effecting  anything.  Another 
expedition  against  these  Indians  was  subsequently  sent,  which 
also  miscarried.    When  Commander  Kieft  saw  that  these  ex- 
peditions against  the  Indians  miscarried,  and  that  trouble  would 
follow,  and  found  that  the  people  began  to  reproach  him  with 
being  himself  safely  protected  in  the  fort,  out  of  which  he  had 
not  slept  a  single  night  during  all  the  years  he  had  been  there, 
and  with  seeking  the  war  in  order  to  make  a  bad  reckoning  with 
the  Company,  and  began  to  feel  that  the  war  would  be  laid  to 
his  charge,  he  called  the  people  together  to  choose  twelve  men 
to  aid  him  in  the  direction  of  the  affairs  of  the  country,  of  which 
number  I  was,  as  a  patroon,  chosen  one.    Commander  kieft 
then  submitted  the  proposition  whether  we  should  avenge  the 
murder  of  Claes  Rademaker  by  declaring  war  upon  the  Indians 
or  not.    We  answered  that  time  and  opportunity  must  be  taken, 
as  our  cattle  were  running  at  pasture  in  the  woods,  and  we  were 
living  far  and  wide,  east,  west,  south,  and  north  of  each  other; 
that  we  were  not  prepared  to  carry  on  a  war  with  the  Indians 
until  we  had  more  people,  like  the  English,  who  make  towns 
and  villages.    I  told  Commander  Kieft  that  no  profit  was  to  be 
derived  from  a  war  with  the  Indians;   that  he  was  the  means 
of  mv  people  being  murdered  at  the  colony  which  I  had  com- 
manded on  Staten  Island  in  the  year  forty;  and  that  I  well  knew 
that  the  managers  did  not  desire  a  war  waged  against  the  Indians, 
lor  when  we  made  our  colony  in  the  year  1630,  in  the  South 
River  at  Swanendael,  otherwise  called  Hoere-kil,  our  people 
were  all  murdered  through  some  trifling  acts  of  the  commander 
whom  we  had  stationed  there,  named  Gilles  Oset,  as  I  have 
alreadv  mentioned  in  the  beginning  of  my  journal;  that  it  was 
then  proposed  to  the  Company  to  make  war  upon  the  Indians 
but  the  Company  would  not  permit  it,  and  replied  that  we  must 
keep  at  peace  with  the  Indian.    This  I  related  toWte 
Kieft  bi  t  he  would  not  listen  to  it.    It  becomes  the  manager, 
to  take care  what  persons  they  appoint  as  Directors,  for  hereon 
!]c|mmi<V  the  welfare  of  the  country.    Were  it  the. :  ca  se  that  the 
K   1  rnrfia  Comoanv  had  Rone  to  work  in  the  East  Lndies,  8 
U  , InahT-nm.unv  her,,  they  would  sooa  Have  been  t*| 


35 


19 


liKe  the  West  India  Company;  but  in  the  East  Indies  they  made 
no  person  commander  of  a  fort,  if  he  be  not  well  acquainted  with 
the  country,  and  have  knowledge  of  the  people  sufficiently. 
But  commanders  are  sent  here  whether  they  be  fit  or  not. 


David  Peterson  de  Vries,  from  whose  "Short  Historical  and  Journal  Notes  of  Several 
Voyages  made  in  the  Four  Parts  of  the  World,  namely,  Europe,  Africa,  Asia,  and  Amer- 
ica," the  selection  published  in  the  present  leaflet  is  taken,  was  born  in  1503  at  Rochelle 
in  France,  whither  his  father  went  from  Hoorn.  in  Holland,  after  the  assassination  of  Will- 
iam of  Orange  in  1584.  When  he  was  four  years  old,  his  parents  returned  with  him  to  Hol- 
land. He  appears  to  have  been  married  about  1620.  He  made  six  voyages,  the  first  to 
the  Mediterranean  for  grain,  the  second  (in  1620)  to  Newfoundland  for  fish,  encountering 
great  dangers  on  both  voyages.  In  1627  he  commanded  a  fleet  of  seven  ships  to  the  East 
Indies,  returning  in  1630.  In  1632,  1634,  and  1638  he  made  voyages  to  New  Nether  land, 
being  interested  in  planting  a  colony  on  Staten  Island.  He  remained  in  New  Netherland 
for  several  years,  returning  finally  in  1644.  "The  2d  of  May  we  obtained  sight  of  England, 
and  fourteen  English  Parliament  ships  met  us.  Our  eleven  prepared  to  fight  them,  sup- 
posing them  to  be  the  King's  ships,  but,  on  coming  up  to  them,  found  them  to  be  friends, 
and  all  sailed  on  quietly  together.  Ran  along  the  English  coast,  and  arrived  the  last  of  May 
in  the  Downs,  where  I  tarried  eight  or  ten  days,  and  heard  the  shots  which  were  fired  before 
Greveling,  which  the  King  of  France  had  besieged.  The  15th  of  June  I  left  the  Downs  for 
the  Mase,  and  reached  Goree  on  the  morning  of  the  16th,  where  I  hired  a  wagon  to  take 
me  to  Briel;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  17th  I  arrived  at  Rotterdam,  where  I  stopped  a  day 
or  two.  and  on  the  21st  of  June,  in  the  year  1644,  by  the  mercy  of  Almighty  God,  arrived 
here  within  my  paternal  city  of  Hoorn,  where  I  have  an  ancestry  of  two  hundred  years  on 
the  father's  side,  and  at  Amsterdam  on  my  mother's  side,  and  came  to  my  house  at  three 
o'clock,  for  which  our  God  mu»t  be  eternally  praised,  that  he  should  have  brought  me  again 
to  my  fatherland,  after  such  long  and  tedious  voyages  and  through  so  many  perils  of  savage 
heathens." 

In  1655  he  published  at  Alckmaer  his  "Short  Historical  and  Journal  Notes,"  "wherein 
are  described  what  battles  he  has  had  by  water;  each  country  its  animals,  birds,  kind  of 
fishes  and  savage  men, — counterfeited  to  the  life. — and  the  woods  and  rivers  with  their 
products."  He  styles  himself,  on  the  title-page,  "Ordnance-Master  of  the  Most  Noble  Lords, 
the  Committed  Council  of  the  States  of  West  Friesland  &  the  North  Quarter."  The  vol- 
ume was  a  small  quarto  of  192  pages,  with  a  portrait  of  De  Vries,  and  eighteen  plates,  twelve 
of  them  relating  to  the  Indians  and  natural  history  of  America.  The  sections  describing  the 
three  voyages  to  Jfsto  Netherland  were  translated  by  Henry  C.  Murphy,  and  published 
in  the  Collections  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  Second  Series,  vol.  iii.,  Part  L,  1857;  and 
from  this  translation  the  present  leaflet  is  made  up.  "It  is  remarkable,"  says  Mr.  Murphy 
in  his  introduction,  "that,  after  Hudson,  only  one  of  the  numerous  Dutch  navigators  and 
travellers  has,  as  far  as  is  known,  published  a  journal  or  narrative  of  voyages  to  New  Neth- 
erland during  the  possession  of  the  country  by  their  nation."  "De  Vries,"  he  says,  was  "a 
bold  and  skilful  seaman.  He  was  a  religious  man,  and  held  the  strongest  Calvinistic  doc- 
trines. His  narratives,  where  he  speaks  from  personal  knowledge,  are  entitled  to  the  high- 
est credit,  for  not  only  do  they  bear  internal  evidence  of  truth,  but  they  have  been  corrob- 
orated in  many  instances  by  other  evidence  and  by  the  records  which  we  have;  and,  being 
his  daily  observations,  taken  down  at  the  time,  they  have  from  this  circumstance  a  value 
which  no  narrative  formed  from  memory  could  possess.  .  .  .  His  relation  of  the  disgraceful 
and  disastrous  Indian  war  [1643],  in  which  he  was  an  actor  and  a  friend  of  the  Indians,  is 
the  only  authentic  one  extant  of  any  completeness,  except  that  of  the  government,  and  is 
therefore  of  great  interest  and  value." 

The  passage  printed  in  the  present  leaflet,  taken  from  De  Vries's  account  of  his  third  visit 
to  New  Netherland.  is  interesting,  not  only  for  its  glimpses  of  New  Amsterdam,  but  also 
of  the  Dutch  and  Indian  life  on  the  Hudson  as  far  as  Albanv.  and  of  the  English  settlement 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut, — the  "Fresh  River."  This  description  of  New  Nether- 
land —  the  portion  here  printed  —  relates  to  the  years  1639-42.  Adrian  van  der  Donck's 
description,  a  portion  of  which  is  published  in  Old  South  Leaflet,  No.  69.  relates  to  the 
years  immediately  following.  It  was  published  at  Amsterdam  the  very  year  (1655'  that  De 
Vries's  book  was  published  at  Alckmaer.  See  the  original  account  by  Juet  of  the  discovery 
of  the  Hudson  River  in  1609.  in  Old  South  Leaflet.  No.  94.  See  the  bibliography  by 
Berthold  Fernow  appended  to  his  chapter  on  New  Netherland,  in  the  "Narrative  and  Criti- 
cal History  of  America,"  vol.  iv. 

Holland  merchant  cent  a  second  expedition  to  the  Hudson  River,  which  thev  called 
the  Mauritius  after  Prince  Maurice,  in  1610,  the  year  after  Hudson's  discovery.    In  1612 

3ji 


20 


three  merchants  of  Amsterdam  sent  two  vessels  under  the  command  of  Hendrick  Christiaen- 
sen  and  Adriaen  Block;  and  the  next  vear  other  vessels  came,  and  a  few  huts  were  bu:lt  ne:r 
the  southern  point  of  Manhattan  Island.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  city  of  New  Ycik. 
At  the  same  time  Christiaensen  built  a  fort  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson,  a  little  below  the 
site  of  Albanv,  and  called  it  Fort  Nassau.  In  1614  the  States-General  of  Holland  granted 
a  charter  to  a  company  for  trade  in  New  Nether  land,  and  this  Dutch  company  framed  the 
first  treatv  with  the  Indians.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  originally  planned  to  join  the  Dutch  m 
New  Netherland.  but  instead  settled  at  Plymouth  in  1620.  In  1621  the  Dutch  West  India 
Companv  was  chartered,  and  under  its  auspices  the  settlement  of  New  Netherland  proceeded 
more  rapidlv.  In  1626  Peter  Minuit  came  out  as  director-general.  Minuit  purchased 
the  entire  island  of  Manhattan  from  the  Indians  for  about  twenty-four  dollars;  and  large 
estates  were  secured  along  the  Hudson  by  the  "patroons."  In  1633  Wouter  van  Twiller  was 
appointed  director-general;  and  De  Vries's  first  and  second  visits  to  New  Amsterdam  were  m 
his  time.  See  account  of  De  Vries's  controversy-  with  Van  Twiller.  based  upon  the  record 
of  the  first  visit,  in  Fiske's  "The  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies.'  i.  145.  and  in  Roberts's  "New 
York,"  in  the  -'American  Commonwealths  "  series.  In  these  works  the  student  can  follow  the 
history  of  New  Netherland  down  to  its  conquest  by  the  English  and  the  change  of  its  name 
to  New  York. 


PUBLISHED  BY 

THE  DIRECTORS  OF  THE  OLD  SOUTH  WORK, 

Old  South  Meeting-house,  Boston,  Mass. 

">2 


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60*  4-1 


